Being Present

Being Present

It was a dimly lit restaurant. Still she was dressed in pink, and while I admit it's hard to tell the gender of babies, clothing color is a reliable clue. So, it surprised me when the waitress began pying with my granddaughter, asking

"How old is he?"

Twenty minutes later, that same waitress served our dinners into my daughter-in-law's lap, spilling the contents of her tray as she approached the table. We made light of the occurrence, assisting her with basic cleanup, but the interaction got me thinking.

I've met and managed too many people who operate like that waitress. They're "at work" but not "present." Preoccupied. Disengaged. Daydreaming. Bored. Text Messaging. Socializing. Whatever. Their body is somewhere their mind isn't. They're easy to spot as they go about their tasks in a robotic dance of just
enough-to-get-by-ness.

These disengaged people seem unaware their present actions carve their future opportunities. They're surprised when they don't get the biggest raise, next promotion, or most interesting work. They're astonished when the fun project or great client doesn't come their way. After all, they've earned it. They've put in their time.

But time spent is not the important currency at work, nor is it a key to winning at working. What's prized is your presence; your engaged passion; yours enhanced efforts.

Malcolm Forbes said, "Presence is more than just being there." He's right. Presence is conscious action and deliberate intention. Presence is purposeful engagement of self. And that purposeful engagement differentiates people who are winning at working from people who aren't.

You see, when you go through the motions or come to work without being engaged, you're passing time. It's not only the boss or the company or the customer you short change - it's yourself.

Passing time diminishes your ability to be winning at working, reducing your opportunities, financial gains, and interesting work. Passing time hinders you from living your potential.

Whether you're bussing tables or performing surgery, stocking shelves or drafting briefs, cleaning houses or teaching classes, you can't be offering the best of who you are to your work, your life, or yourself unless you're engaged, conscious, attentive, and intentional about the tasks you're doing. And I'd wager you can't be enjoying your work much either.

But here's the thing. Even if those tasks are far from your interests, when you're intentionally engaged, time flies. Purposeful engagement transforms the way you think about and approach your work, allowing you to both learn and contribute.

People who are winning at working know that being present magnifies their results, enhances their potential, and creates their future. They're not just at work, they're actively in it.

(c) 2011 Nan S. Russell. All Rights Reserved.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award winning author of Hitting Your Stride: Your Work, Your Way. Nationally syndicated radio host of "Work Matters with Nan Russell." Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in management, including as a Vice President with QVC. Today she is the founder and president of MountainWorks Communications, as well as an author, speaker and consultant
yeremiah@aol.com
 Yeremiah Hardt

Relax

To alleviate the ills of the the stress in this world as well as within ourselves, I believe relaxation is the key. More easily said than done. But if we think of the consequences that stress leads to, for example, stress causes irritablity, causes road rage, causes car accidents, causing detriment to ourselves and others, we may think before taking action on our negative emotions. A leading factor is that we may do something else like drinking in excess. Stress leads to worrry, leads to a desire to go to the bar, leads to drinking, leads to risky behavior, leading to negative outcomes that we may regret later. Why do we do that? We do this because alcohol relaxes us only for a short time and believe agressive behavior is cathartic. What we are left with is misjudging the space between us and the car ahead of us and a possible STI after hooking up. Instead, leave earlier when going somewhere as to allow plenty of time and when you are feeling tense and go out to bowl or play miniature golf. As we are too busy every day we hardly ever take the time we need to “stop and smell the roses.” You want to hit the RELAX button now? We have to stop over-crowding our agenda. Have some time to yourself, not just when you are asleep. Make your life fun again. Play a little and laugh a lot.



yeremiah@aol.com
Yeremiah Hardt